In a futuristic metropolis, calculated floods are used to build a sense of community in a yuppie neighborhood, but not all residents feel the same about it. (PDF)
The above video is Marine Gunnery Sergeant Walgren speaking before the invasion of Marjah in 2010. It’s since become a staple of Marine Corps moto (motivational) culture and it always resurfaces around Veteran’s Day and the Marine Corps Ball. It used to be the video that would make an annual appearance but it now shares a lot of that former limelight with all things related to the Patron Saint of Chaos, General James Mattis. Still, there’s an important similarity between the two that goes deeper than the hype factor. Give Mattis a spin through Google Images. Then do the same for Eisenhower, Puller, Nimitz, Macarthur…do the same for any famed American flag officer. A pattern presents itself. In none of any of their most iconic photos are these men depicted as overseeing anything like a parade or an inspection. Particularly for the most recent of them, where PR is a fact of life, they’ll always be pictured standing amongst a small group of ground troops. And that’s not a coincide
There is in every enduring spiritual legacy, an emphasis on ascetic practice. Why this occurs has been subject to much investigation. And while the investigations themselves may interesting, no single study will sufficiently describe all aspects of asceticism. Nor should we expect one to. For practical purposes, as it is experienced, the subject must be considered on a number of different planes. We will limit ourselves to three examples, along with some further considerations on the subject. A Final Break with Attachment Defined as the act of breaking an attachment, this view of asceticism may be the easiest to understand as that it can be easily translated into terms that require no consideration of its more transcendent features. Although a ‘break’ with some aspect of the material world often is often done in order to look beyond, this need not always be the case. The motivation can be more secular. Many students know well the feeling of what was intended to be five-minute
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